We
need to see that there is a connection between Genesis 3 and Exodus 3. In both
chapters we have the thorn and the fire. The
thorn in Genesis 3 indicates that man is under a curse (vv. 17-18), and the
flame of fire indicates that man is excluded from God as the tree of life (vv.
22-24). According to Genesis 3, thorns came from the curse due to sin.
Hence, thorns are a symbol of fallen man under the curse. Immediately after the
curse was pronounced, a flaming sword was placed at the east of the garden “to guard
the way to the tree of life” (v. 24). Thus, sin brought in the curse, and the
curse brought in the flame of fire. The function of fire in Genesis 3 is to
exclude sinners from the tree of life, that is, from God as the source of life.
(Life-study of Exodus, pp. 74-75)
If
the Bible had ended with Genesis 3:24, our situation would be forever hopeless.
According to chapters 1 and 2 of
Genesis, we were created specifically to receive God as life. The man created
by God was placed in front of the tree of life. Then in chapter 3 sin came
in, man fell under the curse, and the fire of God’s holiness excluded the
cursed sinners from any direct contact with God as the tree of life.... Man’s situation
in Exodus 3 is much different from that in Genesis 3. In
Exodus 3 the cursed thorn becomes the vessel of God, and the flame of fire
becomes one with the thornbush . Through redemption, signified
by the lamb slain and offered to God for fallen man (Gen. 4:4), the curse has
been taken away, and the fire has become one with the thorn.
Considering this in the light of the picture in Exodus
3, we see that the thorn and the flame are one. In Genesis 3 fallen man was
under the curse signified by the thorn. There the flame of fire excluded this fallen
man from God as the tree of life. In Exodus 3, however, the thornbush , which
can be considered a type of vessel, and the fire are one. In Genesis 3 the fire keeps the man who is under the curse away from
the tree of life, away from God as the source of life. But in Exodus 3 the
flame of fire visits the thornbush and indwells it. This indicates that
through the redemption of Christ the very God Himself, the holy One whose
holiness excludes sinners from His presence, can come to visit us, to stay with
us, and even to dwell in us. Hallelujah, Christ has taken away the curse and
has cast down to earth the fire of the Holy Spirit! Now that the curse has been
taken away, we are no longer excluded from God as life. Praise the Lord that
the excluding flame of Genesis 3 has become the visiting and indwelling flame
of Exodus 3! Now the once-cursed
thorn can become God’s dwelling place. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 75-76
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